


The Prettiest Roses Still Have Thorns

by Caiti (Caitriona_3)



Series: The Cahill Project [29]
Category: Beauty and the Beast (TV 2012), Grimm (TV)
Genre: Alternate Universe, Family, Family Feels, Found Family, Gen, The Cahill Project, The Grimm Truth
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-02-24
Updated: 2019-02-24
Packaged: 2019-11-04 15:20:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,420
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17900618
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Caitriona_3/pseuds/Caiti
Summary: It's Vincent & Catherine's turn to try and talk to the girls.





	The Prettiest Roses Still Have Thorns

**Author's Note:**

> Follow up to [Who Thought Teenagers were a Good Idea](https://archiveofourown.org/works/17662082)
> 
> Given the different backgrounds, it was interesting to play with how this subject might be covered with the girls.
> 
> Only one translation - _Dyadya_ \- which is Russian for "uncle" and Dacia uses it for Will.

[ ](https://imgur.com/jndfCuI)

Sunday morning found Dacia laughing as she watched Catherine and Vincent argue about what constituted good nutrition. Breakfast tended to be of the ‘find your own’ sort because no one had to be up at any particular hour. When it came to lunch, they always tried to do something as a group. Dacia loved those meals, reveled in feeling the bonds strengthening between the four of them. She still shied away from putting a label on them, but each day weakened that resistance.

Vincent finally chased them out of the kitchen. “Since I’m the one cooking, I’ll decide what we’re having,” he told them. The phone started to ring, so he waved them away. “Trust me, you’ll enjoy it.”

“I offered to cook,” Catherine laughed as she left the room, pulling Dacia along behind her. “I want that to go down on the record.”

“Yeah, yeah.”

Making their way into the living area, they sat down - Dacia sitting tailor-fashion on one of the chairs while Catherine took the closest end of the couch. She gave the girl a bright smile. “So, what are you plans after lunch?”

“Homework,” Dacia grumbled. “I’ve still got some Latin to finish.” She wrinkled her nose. “I hate Latin.”

“Sorry, honey, but it’s a requirement.” Catherine offered her a sympathetic look. “Unlike most of the others, I can’t even tell you **why**.”

“Yeah, at least I kinda get why math or science or English might be necessary, but Latin?”

“What?”

The sharp question drew Dacia’s attention to the kitchen, but Catherine tapped her on the head. “No eavesdropping, little wolf,” she admonished. “If you need to know, Vincent will tell you.” 

“Yes, Cat.” While her curiosity might tempt her to listen in anyway, her respect for her guardians convinced her otherwise.

“Hopefully whoever’s on the phone doesn’t take too long,” Catherine chuckled. “I think Inari’s planning on leaving in a couple of hours to go see Samonik. They’ve got something planned for this afternoon.”

“I’m not going.”

Catherine and Dacia looked over as Inari walked into the room, her glum voice preceding her. They exchanged a glance. “Why not, little fox?” 

“Samonik’s grounded.” Inari frowned at her phone before dropping it on one of the side tables. She flopped down on the other end of the couch. Pulling her legs up, she curled into a ball and pouted. “He had to cancel our plans.”

“Did he give you a reason?”

“Yeah.” She wrinkled her nose. “Rene was looking into Merrick and his contacts.”

Dacia shrugged. “So?”

“He was what?” 

The sharp question from Catherine drew wide-eyed looks from both girls. Dacia stared at her, catching sight of her sister curling tighter. Catherine caught the same movement and closed her eyes. She took a couple of deep breaths before reaching out to rub the older girl’s arm. “I’m sorry, little fox. I didn’t mean to snap at you.”

It took a moment, but Inari uncurled and shifted over to cuddle into Catherine’s side. “That’s okay.”

“No, it’s not, sweetheart.” Wrapping an arm around the girl, the older woman brushed a kiss over her hair. “I can’t promise it won’t happen again, but any time the temper’s not directed at you, I’ll apologize - because it’s not fair to bite at you for something someone else did.”

“Does that mean Rene’s grounded too?” Dacia asked. “Samonik didn’t do anything - just gave some names or dates, I think, when Rene asked.”

“You knew about this?”

“Sure.”

The sigh Catherine gave sounded strained. “We need to have a talk about when to keep secrets and when it’s not a good idea.”

“I don’t know why looking into a known bad guy’s associates is a bad thing,” Inari grumbled, “but Samonik said he got grounded because he should have known better.” Then she grimaced. “But then again, Rene didn’t tell him that Will and Marina forbid him to look into the whole thing.”

“Ouch.” Dacia flinched at that. “Okay, I didn’t know that part either.”

“Neither of you knew they specifically told him **not** to look into Merrick?” When both girls shook their heads, Catherine smiled. “Good.” She looked down at Inari. “As to why - because you’re kids. Maybe you’re more experienced than most kids, and God knows you’ve got better instincts most of the time, but still kids. Merrick - and anyone working with him - is something we’ll handle because that’s our job as the adults.”

“Merrick took one of ours,” Dacia protested.

“You’re still our kids.” Catherine took her hand. “You’re our responsibility. We’ll move Heaven and earth to keep you safe.”

“In answer to your question, yes, Rene is grounded,” Vincent informed her as he walked into the room, his voice a low growl that matched the golden flash of his eyes. “And if I were you, I’d be more worried about why **you’re** in trouble.” 

“Why am I going to be in trouble?” Dacia frowned up at him.

He lifted a brow, the gold fading to hazel. “How long have you been sneaking over to Rene’s after everyone’s gone to bed for the night?”

“A few weeks.” 

The quick, nonchalant answer clearly threw him if the flicker of gold vanishing gave any evidence. She glanced over at the other females. Catherine didn’t look any happier than Vincent, her expression caught between worry, fear, and exasperation. Inari offered her a half-shrug, as uncertain as she herself on why everyone seemed so bothered. Turning her gaze back to Vincent, she waited for his response.

“Dacia…” His voice trailed off. Turning, he paced away as he rubbed his hands over his face. She could see him taking a few deep breaths of his own before he came to perch on the arm of her chair. One hand reached out to stroke down her blonde hair. “Pretty cub, do you realize how dangerous that is?”

“It’s just the city.” And yeah, okay, not the safest place in the world, but she’d been walking the streets of New York for years now. “Nothing’s changed about that.”

“You’ve changed.” He touched her cheek. “You and your sister are ours now.”

“Okay…”

“That means you’ve got people who will worry about you now, little wolf.” Catherine leaned forward, reaching out to touch her knee. “Not just Inari, but me, Vincent, Grant . . . all of the Grimms.” She paused, her eyes scanning Dacia’s face. “If something were to happen, it would break our hearts.”

Squirming a little, still a little uncomfortable with the knowledge of so many people worrying about her, Dacia remained silent. The whole situation made her want to growl, pull back, protect herself . . . but why? Why did she still feel this need to shield herself from them? They wouldn’t hurt her, she knew that . . . so what part of her heart still waited for something to go wrong? Everything about the push-pull of this made her grumpy.

“And if someone took you, we wouldn’t know,” Vincent added. His hand settled on her shoulder, a weight, but a good one. “We’d do everything we could to find you, but we’d have that sick feeling of not knowing.”

Her brow wrinkled as the memory of Samonik’s disappearance flashed through her mind - the fear and the worry she’d felt, that she knew still scared Inari and Rene. Even the thought of it made her stomach churn . . . how could she contribute to them feeling the same way in regards to **her**? 

Catherine tilted her head, confusion flickering in her green eyes. “How do you even get into Rene’s room?”

“I climb the tree beside the house.”

“And then what?” Vincent huffed. “It’s a good five feet from the tree to the window.” His eyes flashed from hazel to gold. “You **jump**?”

Caution threaded through her. “Yeah…”

He pinched the bridge of his nose as Catherine gasped. “Dacia Joelle!”

“What?”

“You could get hurt!”

“It’s not that big a jump,” she protested. When both of them gave her unhappy looks, she rolled her eyes. Pulling herself up to perch on the back of the chair, she glanced around. After a moment she decided on a table the right distance away. She tensed her muscles, woged enough to get the power she wanted, and jumped. The bit off curse that followed her almost made her laugh, but she focused on her target. Landing on the edge of the table, she twisted so her footing became more certain. Then she looked back at them, a red haze still filling her gaze. “See?”

“Show off,” Inari muttered, only to fall silent as Catherine gave her a sharp look.

“Wesen,” Dacia reminded them as she hopped off the table, letting the woge go. “Wesen, not human.”

“I don’t care.” Vincent shook his head when she started to protest. “Not important, Dacia. It’s still a jump you shouldn’t be making. You could get hurt.”

The fear in his voice killed any attempt at argument. How was she supposed to argue with him when he was worried about **her**? Never falling wouldn’t work as a good point - there was always a first time. 

“If you don’t get hurt from the jump, what about the agents on base?” Catherine added as Dacia walked over to them. “All of them are armed and they’re not expecting a teenager at that time of the morning.”

“It’s not like I’ve ever been caught,” she pointed out as she curled up on the chair once more. “No one’s ever . . .” Her voice trailed off as a new thought came to mind. “Hmm…”

“What are you thinking, pretty cub?”

She tilted her head up to look at him. The anger and irritation still swirled in his gaze, but she could see them warring with patience and understanding. He wanted to be mad, she knew it, but Vincent refused to be a party to scaring her. Biting her lip, she poked at the thought a few times before huffing out a sigh. “It’s probably not a good thing that I’ve managed to get onto base property and over to the house without being caught, is it?”

Vincent blinked, and then dropped his head, shaking it. “Damn. Will’s going to be pissed when **that** thought hits him.” 

“So will Jason,” Catherine agreed. “That means there’s a hole in security.”

“And I didn’t mention it.” Now distress threaded through her. Dacia turned anxious eyes from Vincent to Catherine and back. “Someone else could have used it, used the hole to hurt them, because I didn’t say anything.”

They exchanged a quick glance. Vincent stood up and held out his hand. When she put hers into it, he pulled her up into a hug. Her arms wound around his waist as she buried her face into his chest. The idea that her negligence could have endangered the people she cared about frightened her. She’d lost her family . . . she didn’t want to lose the new one she seemed to be gathering around her. 

And this would have been her fault!

Not quite able to repress it, she gave a tiny, breathless whimper. Vincent’s arms tightened around her, then he adjusted his hold so he could sweep her up off her feet. The noise turned into a squeak, but he just sat down in the chair and pulled her into his lap. “Shh, pretty cub, shh.”

“Vincent…”

“It’s not your fault, sweetheart,” he insisted, brushing a hand down her hair. “Maybe I could wish you would have mentioned it before, but now we know and we can fix it.”

“Dacia?” 

Turning her head, she fastened her eyes on Catherine, feeling tears burn at the back of them when she found herself looking into compassionate green. “Yeah?”

“That worry, that heavy feeling in the belly you’ve got right now?” The older woman released Inari and shifted forward again to perch on the edge of the couch. She brushed a fingertip down Dacia’s cheek. “That’s how we’d feel if we woke up to find you missing.”

She stared at Catherine. The woman spoke the truth - Dacia could see it, scent it, sense it. Her lips trembled as another brick in her shield crumbled away. One tear slipped from the corner of her eye, the drop sliding down her cheek. “I’m sorry.”

The arms around her tightened again and she felt Vincent press another kiss to the top of her head. Catherine brushed away the tear as Inari edged closer. “Just remember this feeling next time you think about doing something like this, little wolf,” she told her. Pulling back, she wrapped an arm around Inari. “And you need to keep it in mind too, little fox. I know we’re all new to this, but you’re our family now, our pack too.”

“I think we’ll have a den night tonight,” Vincent decided. “This afternoon everyone can do whatever they need to so they can be ready for tomorrow, then after dinner we’ll bunk down together with a movie.”

“Good idea,” Catherine nodded. “I might even have an idea for the movie.”

“Are we grounded too?” Inari asked. Dacia lifted her head so she could see both adults as they exchanged a long speaking look. “We didn’t say anything either.”

“True,” Catherine allowed, “but with Rene and Samonik already grounded, that’s already going to cut back on most of your fun anyway.” She shook her head. “Unless you’re with the boys, you’re most likely to be at home or SHIELD.”

“Hmm.” Vincent looked considering. “Now there’s an idea.” 

“What?”

He smiled at his partner. “Since the girls are going to be at loose ends with the boys in trouble, **and** we need to make sure the lesson stays learned, maybe there is something we can do.” A chuckle broke free as both teenagers gave him narrow-eyed looks. “Not that it’s real punishment, but maybe we can set you up to help some people until Rene and Samonik are free again.”

“Like who?” Dacia asked, wrinkling her nose. “No one’s going to give us any paperwork.”

Vincent looked down at her and tugged on a lock of her hair. “Probably not, but maybe we can have you keep track of Grant, tell us if he tries to overdo something.” He glanced over at Inari. “Miranda’s always got stuff that needs to be filed. I’m sure we could find more.”

Locking eyes with her sister, they exchanged their own silent conversation. Then Dacia took a deep breath and stepped away. “Okay,” she nodded, “we can do that, but first? I better talk to _Dyadya_ and Jason . . . tell them how I got in.”

“That’s my girl.”


End file.
